Heroes of Dolmar
by Dyrian
Summary: Based on a D&D campaign I have been running for nearly 2 years now, and is finally coming to an end.
1. Lady Illara Belthane

**Dungeons and Dragons  
The Heroes of Dolmar**

Chapter 1  
"Lady Illara Belthane"

On a bright summer day, the streets of Dolmar were bustling with activity. Talathar, a young elf, walked down a crowded street, observing the many travelers and merchants. Talathar paid no attention to the merchants who called out to him, for he was already well stocked in his usual adventuring gear. Despite all the excitement it provided, Talathar was growing annoyed with the tournaments. They always attracted extra foreigners to his hometown, and made it impossible for one to walk from one's home to one's favorite tavern without twenty or so offers of "the best deal in town."

Talathar pushed open the door to the Inebriated Mouse, his favorite tavern in the local area. He would visit the Drunken Rat, but their prices were too high. Talathar took a seat at the bar, beside an out-of-town dwarf, whose warhammer was propped on his stool, and whose beard was nearly drenched with ale.

Talathar glanced around, but saw no sign of his compatriots, who were to meet him. He did catch a glimpse of a hooded figure sitting beside a rather large man in the corner of the room. He couldn't see the hooded person's face, and didn't recognize the man. The bartender came over to Talathar.

"Welcome back, good sir. Will you have the usual today?"

Talathar nodded and accepted his drink a few moments later, still remaining silent. The dwarf beside him was nearly passed out, and his beard was in danger of becoming even more soaked as it hovered precariously over his mug as his head began to nod. Talathar shook his head. It wasn't even lunchtime yet, and this dwarf was already drunk.

Talathar took another look around the bar. He still didn't see his friends, and figured they would approach him when they arrived, so he wasn't really sure why he was looking around. Then, he noticed the large man in the corner motioning for him to come over. Talathar wasn't sure of the man's intentions, but Talathar had only had one drink so far, and was a competent swordsman, should things come to that.

Talathar picked up his drink and walked over to the table. The man motioned for him to sit, and he did. Before Talathar could speak, the hooded figured lifted her head, and Talathar instantly recognized Lady Illara Belthane. Lady Illara was half-elf, and was a friend of his since their meeting on board a pirate vessel, which, as it happens, Talathar was serving aboard, and Lady Illara's ship was the one being raided.

"Talathar, I need your help."

"Anything for you, my lady." Talathar replied with a slight bow of his head.

"Keep quiet. I do not wish anyone here to know who I am. Father passed away recently, and while I was going through his study, I came across something rather unsettling."

Illara passed a piece of parchment to Talathar. Talather unfolded it and looked it over. "Well, I'm no expert on such matters, but these look like arcane markings."

Illara nodded. "They are. As a cleric of Yarra, I recognized those markings as the symbol of Asgoth. Although, the other symbol is foreign to me." Illara pointed to a drawing of a curved claw.

Talathar shook his head. "I do not recognize it either."

"I feared that father was involved in dark magic. I was afraid of what else I might uncover, so I left the study alone, but before I left, I could have sworn that I heard voices coming from behind the wall."

"Are you certain?"

"As sure as I am that you are sitting here. Will you come over and investigate?"

"I would be honored to assist."

At this point, their conversation was interrupted as a fight suddenly erupted at the bar between the nearly drunken dwarf, and a rather large, dark-skinned man.

Talathar lept to his feet. "Excuse me, my lady, my friend there may need my assistance." Talathar drew his rapier and rushed to the fight.


	2. Beer and Blades

**Chapter 2**

"Beer and Blades"

The drunken dwarf stood facing the large dark man with hammer in hand. The large man was wielding a greataxe. The dwarf took a swing, which the man easily avoided, due to the dwarf's drunken state.

The big man swung at the dwarf's head, but the dwarf ducked, and the man's greataxe smashed through a couple of tankards sitting on the bar and sent beer flying. Part of a tankard hit a guy sitting at the bar a few feet away. He jumped up and advanced towards the dwarf and the barbarian to demand an apology.

The dwarf drew back to swing his hammer, and as he did, he nailed the poor bloke, who was coming up behind him, right in the groin. The dwarf swung, the barbarian dodged, and the poor guy crumpled to his knees.

The barbarian lunged forward, trying to grab the dwarf, but the poor bystander fell forward into the barbarian's grasp. The barbarian quickly flung him aside and straight into a table where two other men were enjoying their drinks.

As the poor fellow toppled over the table, the two men jumped to their feet and grabbed the poor guy by the shirt, and threw him across the tavern, where he collided with another group of guys. The entire bar soon erupted into a brawl.

The barbarian continued his fight, ignoring the bar brawl, by swinging his greataxe, which the dwarf ducked, into the bar where it stuck. The dwarf then hit the barbarian hard in the gut with his hammer. "Is tha, the best ye got? Ah've seen orcs wha could swing better an yoo."

Talathar came up behind the dwarf and stabbed at his back. Unfortunately, Talathar misjudged his attack slightly, and his rapier merely struck the dwarf's armor.

"Ah! Wha's this then? Ye need help ta take on a single dwarf?"

With that, the larger man let out a shout of rage and ripped his axe out of the bar, taking a large chunk of the bar with it. The chunk of wood struck the dwarf in the head, then the barbarian's axe struck the dwarf's breastplate. The dwarf stumbled backwards, and Talathar tripped him. Talathar readied his rapier at the dwarf's throat, but the dwarf was out cold.

"What was that all about?"

The barbarian calmed down and put his axe away. "Old grudge."

Lady Illara, and the large man accompanying her, jumped up from their table and rushed through the stunned crowd of onlookers to the fallen dwarf.

Talathar and the barbarian just looked down at him for a few minutes. Talathar sheathed his sword and turned to his friend. "You know him?"

"Yeah. His name is Durrik. We had a run in once or twice before. I'm afraid I didn't keep count."

Lady Illara knelt down beside the dwarf and cast Cure Moderate Wounds. Surprisingly the dwarf didn't get back up. "I don't understand. I healed him. Why didn't he wake up?"

Talathar glanced at the nine empty beer mugs. "I think I might know."

Lady Illara stood back up. "Is this a friend of yours, Talathar?" Illara gestured towards the barbarian.

"Oh, yes. This is..."

The barbarian cut him off. "Thommas. Call me Tom."

"Nice to meet you, Tom. Will you be accompanying Talathar?"

"Perhaps."

Illara glanced around at the bar patrons. "We should discuss this further in private. Let us go to the mansion." Illara and her escort left the bar. Talathar followed. The barbarian left a small bag of gold for the barkeeper and followed Talathar.


	3. Belthane Manor

**Chapter 3**

"Belthane Manor"

Talathar purposefully fell back to speak to the barbarian. "Tom? Since when did you go by Tom?"

"It's my brother's idea. He and I are... let's say 'in a bit of trouble' in a few other towns. So he suggested that we change our names every so often. Tom was the first thing I could think of."

"Alright then. Go find your nameless brother and meet me at Belthane manor. I may have a job for you two."

The barbarian nodded and left. It took only a few minutes to finish the walk to the mansion. Talathar joined Illara in the sitting room, no longer under her cloak.

"Forgive me, Talathar, for not introducing my friend earlier. This is Baran. He has been a loyal bodyguard to me for the past two years."

Talathar extended his hand. "Nice to meet you." His gesture was not returned, and Talathar let his hand fall at his side.

"Forgive Baran's manners, he speaks little, and is not very trusting of others. I find it makes him a more effective protector."

Moments later, Illara's butler brought in the barbarian and a slightly smaller man who was also dark-skinned, but not as dark as the barbarian. The butler introduced them. "Lady Illara, may I present, Mr. Thommas, and his brother, Mr. Jonathan."

The two men entered and sat with Talathar. The barbarian propped his greataxe against his chair, and his brother set down a quiver and bow alongside a rather plain longsword. The smaller man had a very elvish look to him, and had it not been for the skin tone, it would have been impossible to tell that these two were brothers. Illara seemed puzzled by this.

"Excuse me, Mr. Jonathan-"

"Please, call me John."

"-John. Are you an elf?"

"Yes."

"Are you not this man's brother, though?"

"Yeah, well... half brother. I had an elf father, he had a human father."

"But you are a full blooded elf, not a half-elf."

The heavily tanned elf grinned. "I used to be half-elf. I died, and in an effort to save on resurrection costs, my brother opted for the cheaper reincarnation spell instead, and I was reincarnated as an elf. It would seem that what bit of my mother's complexion I once had has almost faded in the process."

"I see. Well, allow me to fill you in." Illara recapped to the two brothers everything she had told Talathar at the tavern.

Talathar stood. "I suggest we search your father's study first and see what we can find there."

Illara nodded and led them all to a small room, furnished by a desk and chair, an easy chair, and a couple of bookcases. The room showed signs of having been recently searched. "I will leave you three to uncover what you may. I am afraid that I must go back into town. My brother arrived last night and wants to meet to read father's will together. If I should not return before you have finished your search, come back to the mansion tomorrow and tell me what you found."

Talathar nodded, and Illara and Baran left. "Jonathan? Since when do you two come up with such common names?"

The darker elf had already begun searching the room when he replied. "Common names don't stand out, and since we only give a first name and no last name, it makes it harder for people to remember us. I mean, would you be more likely to remember meeting a man named Jonathan, or one named Evan Erricson warrior of the Fifth Order of Dellor?"

Talathar shrugged and went to join 'John' in his search. He needn't have bothered, because only moments after Talathar began searching, 'John' suddenly announced, "Found it!"

"Found what?"

"What I was looking for." With that, 'John' activated a hidden switch behind the bookcase and a section of the wall slid open, revealing a spiral staircase descending into a dark tunnel.

The three stared for a moment. 'John' looked at his brother. "You're the barbarian, you first."

"Hey, you're the rogue, you go first."

"You're tougher than me."

"You're better at finding traps."

"Rock-Paper-Scissors."

Talathar shook his head and walked past the two brothers as the barbarian shouted, "Rock breaks scissors, I win!"


End file.
